A police sergeant has been arrested for selling arms to cattle rustlers and other criminals in the troubled north east.

The suspect, Sergeant Zakariah John of the Counter Terrorist Unit in Maiduguri, Borno State, was caught selling a round of 7.62MM Special Ammunition to a suspected rustler.

Media Officer of Operation Safe Haven Maj. Adam Umar, who paraded the suspects on Friday both John and his customer, Sani Muhammed, were arrested.

Umar said: “As we intensified our investigations following the June 23 incident, we arrested one of the rustlers and he confessed that a policeman supplies him ammunition. So he was told to ask for another supply.

“We took the suspect to the meeting point, laid an ambush, and the supplier appeared – he supplied 180 rounds of 7.62MM special. Each round of ammunition was sold for N450. It used to be N400 but according to the supplier, scarcity of the product forced him to increase the price.

“That was how the suspect was arrested and upon interrogation, we discovered he is a police sergeant serving with the Counter Terrorist Unit in Maiduguri. “This discovery will help in reducing the proliferation of arms in these troubled areas.”

Umar added that: “We also have in our custody Patrick Choji and Yakubu Davou who were arrested for illegal possession of firearms. We have 10 suspects in all but with various offenses, ranging from rustling, robbery, impersonation and gun running.

“They were arrested from various spots, some from Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi and Nasarawa State.

“Victor Davou and Joshua Dagwom are suspected to be part of those who rustled cows in Fan district of Barkin Ladi before the attacks last month, though we are still investigating to ascertain their level of involvement.”